Advocacy & Safety - Former Kansas Athletic Director dies after hitting pothole

Link: pjstar.com (http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x124628716/Former-ISU-A-D-dies-after-bike-accident)

Edit: There is apparently talk floating around that he might have hit a huge construction hole, more than just a generic pothole.

And here's a commenter on this site:
Lawrence Journal World (http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/jun/11/emergency-crews-respond-bicycle-accident/)

"Maybe the city should take complete responsibility when someone gets injured from there negligence. You can't even drive a car in Lawrence without hitting a pothole that can throw you into another lane. And if you do avoid it your probably cutting someone else off in their lane."

the story is here (http://www.kansascity.com/842/story/1249895.html?storylink=omni_popular) too.

Story about Bob Frederick:
Bob Frederick was a gentleman and a gentle man


http://www.kansascity.com/180/story/1250833.html?story_link=email_msg

I believe it's pretty rare to die from a simple fall.

I wonder what the exact portion is as compared to death from collisions with motor vehicles.

I believe it's pretty rare to die from a simple fall.

I wonder what the exact portion is as compared to death from collisions with motor vehicles.

I think this type of pothole fall is not a simple fall. It's really more like hitting an obstruction--like a wall or a car door.

The bike's front wheel flies over the near lip of the pothole, then slams into the far wall. The cranks, bottom bracket and drive train probably follow the front wheel into the wall of the pothole. Forward momentum of the bike is immediately stopped as the wheel and frame crumple. The rider continues in a forward trajectory, flying over the handlebars and into the air. The force of gravity adds to the rider's speed as he flies through the air. Eventually, he will hit the ground or another obstruction at a speed that is actually greater than the speed with which the bike was travelling.

That's why they say to keep your front wheel up if you go into a pothole. You want the front wheel to clear the pothole at all costs. If you hit the far wall of the pothole with your pedal or rear wheel, the bike is more likely to drop along the lines of the "simple fall" that you mentioned.

maybe I should rephrase.

I believe it's rare to have a cycling fatality that did not include a collision with an automobile.

maybe I should rephrase.

I believe it's rare to have a cycling fatality that did not include a collision with an automobile.

Your assertion sounds reasonable, but I have read about a number of cycling deaths which resulted from a collision with another bicycle, a stick getting caught in the front wheel, a sudden drop into a pothole or storm drain grate, a broken fork, or a collision with a stationary object. The front wheel and fork/steerer tube system are the points of maximum vulnerability. I freely admit that a recumbent probably is safer than a conventional upright "safety cycle" in these sorts of mishaps.

It's my impression that, at least in the US, excessive couch use causes many more deaths than cycling.

It's my impression that, at least in the US, excessive couch use causes many more deaths than cycling.

It depends on how you measure the death rates. Measured per hour, more people die on bikes. Measured per mile, more die on couches. ;)

Advocacy & Safety:

Advocacy = getting butts on bikes
Safety = Keeping butts alive while they're on the bikes.

This accident depends on how hard and where he hit. Even with a helmet on a head injury is very possible. All a concussion is is your skull stopping and your brain keeps moving until it slams into the skull, which can cause an epidural or subdural hematoma. One can kill you quickly, and one can kill you slowly, up to two+ weeks later.

Also, if he slammed his chest into the ground it could cause his heart to stop beating, or to beat irregularly, so just hitting a pot-hole wrong can be deadly.

Either way, this sucks! :(

Your assertion sounds reasonable, but I have read about a number of cycling deaths which resulted from a collision with another bicycle, a stick getting caught in the front wheel, a sudden drop into a pothole or storm drain grate, a broken fork, or a collision with a stationary object. The front wheel and fork/steerer tube system are the points of maximum vulnerability. I freely admit that a recumbent probably is safer than a conventional upright "safety cycle" in these sorts of mishaps.

Don't we all better remember the more unusual?

Going over all the cycling fatalities in my province for the past 23 years, I know of only 4 deaths that didn't involve a collision with a motor vehicle (and one of those involved a collision with train)

I believe only one involved a simple fall from a bicycle, another one ended up on the front page of our major daily. The cyclist was riding on a downhill section and rounding a curve on a MUP and cutting the corner on the wrong side of the path was a roller blader. The roller blader was fine. The other one I don't have the report on but I read in the paper the person on the bike was going down a hill on the sidewalk at a high rate of speed and rode directly into a telephone pole.

All the other 135 died in collisions with MVs of one sort or another

... Even with a helmet on a head injury is very possible. All a concussion is is your skull stopping and your brain keeps moving until it slams into the skull, which can cause an epidural or subdural hematoma. One can kill you quickly, and one can kill you slowly, up to two+ weeks later...

True, and in this fatality a helmet was worn.

Related news:



Calhoun Released From Hospital

By MIKE ANTHONY | manthony@courant.com 12:50 AM EDT, June 15, 2009 UConn coach Jim Calhoun was released from the UConn Health Center in Farmington just before 4 p.m. Sunday.

Calhoun broke several ribs in a bike fall Saturday during the Jim Calhoun Cancer Challenge Ride, then fainted after the event because of dehydration and trauma. It was initially reported that Calhoun, 67, had broken five ribs, but he told FoxSports.com on Sunday that he actually broke six.

From the Hartford Courant @

http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc-calhoun0614.artjun14,0,4448648.story

This is what amazed me:


Calhoun hit a pothole about 12 miles into his 50-mile route Saturday and was hurled over the handlebars. He had minor leg injuries that were bandaged, and he waited for a bike mechanic roadside for an hour before finishing the race.


The Channel 8 news out of New Haven reported that Calhoun cracked his helmet when he fell, but put it back on and finished the ride. The Coach is a cancer survivor, and toughing it out is an admired quality in the athletic world, but continuing seemed foolish to me. If a 67-year-old who has staved off the Big C won't use the sag wagon when he cracks multiple ribs, when would he?

At the very least, he should have gotten a replacement for his magic hat.

Kevin

{Fan of a different Big East team**

Related news:



From the Hartford Courant @

http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc-calhoun0614.artjun14,0,4448648.story

This is what amazed me:



The Channel 8 news out of New Haven reported that Calhoun cracked his helmet when he fell, but put it back on and finished the ride. The Coach is a cancer survivor, and toughing it out is an admired quality in the athletic world, but continuing seemed foolish to me. If a 67-year-old who has staved off the Big C won't use the sag wagon when he cracks multiple ribs, when would he?

At the very least, he should have gotten a replacement for his magic hat.

Kevin

{Fan of a different Big East team**

That's really a cosmic coincidence--two serious accidents, both college football coaches and both hitting potholes. Calhoun's accident could have been fatal. Multiple fractured ribs can cause fatal breathing difficulties, and like you said heart contusions are a possibility also.

I received similar but less severe injuries (in a fight, not a bike fall) and man that hurt. I felt like the wind was knocked out of me for several hours. I had EKG abnormalities and was in the hospital for more than 24 hours. I can see that Calhoun had big macho stones to finish his ride--but not much common sense.

Don't we all better remember the more unusual?

Going over all the cycling fatalities in my province for the past 23 years, I know of only 4 deaths that didn't involve a collision with a motor vehicle (and one of those involved a collision with train)

[snip]

All the other 135 died in collisions with MVs of one sort or another

In the most recent year for which I could find data (2007), there were 15 biking fatalities in my state. 14 involved motor vehicle collisions and 1 was described as "unknown". Which could also have involved a MV.

I can see that Calhoun had big macho stones to finish his ride--but not much common sense.

I don't think its about stones or common sense - it's not uncommon for people injured in accidents to almost obsessively want to continue what they were doing when the accident occurred; I think the shock of the accident causes them to focus on completing what they were doing at the time of the accident and makes it difficult, in some cases, for them to realize that they should really stop and get checked out.

Back when I taught, I once had a student show up to class slightly late with obvious road rash and still bleeding from several cuts on his arm and leg. (You could see the blood leaving the cut and rolling down his arm). Apparently he was on his bike and hit by a car while crossing campus, and despite being injured he immediately got back on his bike and came to class. He was out of breath and a little...manic, maybe...when he came to class and sat in his seat.

(The other students all just kind of looked at him like he was crazy).

After I stopped looking at him like he was crazy, I told him he needed to go to the clinic and get checked out and cleaned up. And about the time I said this, I could see that he, after sitting down for just a minute, realized that he shouldn't actually have come to class.

When I shared this with my colleagues, one of them reported that she had had the exact same thing happen to her in one of her classes in the previous year.

I suspect that something like this was going on with Calhoun.

I don't think its about stones or common sense - it's not uncommon for people injured in accidents to almost obsessively want to continue what they were doing when the accident occurred; I think the shock of the accident causes them to focus on completing what they were doing at the time of the accident and makes it difficult, in some cases, for them to realize that they should really stop and get checked out.

.....

I suspect that something like this was going on with Calhoun.

FYI, Calhoun is a basketball coach.

I'd expect someone in such an accident to be, if not concussed, then very likely to be in shock. When he finished his ride, he eventually fainted. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that sounds like the body finally shutting down after the adreneline rush is over.

Earlier this month I wiped out on a descent when my back wheel hit a rut or a sandy and/or oily spot. I smacked the pavement pretty hard, with my bike landing on top of me. I didn't crack any ribs, but that general area on my left side was sore for a few days. I also picked up some road rash and a nasty bruise or two. My magic hat did its job. With the help of a friendly homeowner who interrupted his lawn care to see if I was OK, I got cleaned up, did some spot repairs on my ride, and rode home. In the back of my mind was the idea that If I were concussed, would I be the best judge of whether I was fit to ride home or not? In hindsight, I should have called someone to pick me up, but I didn't want to be a bother, and I especially didn't want to feed the It's too dangerous to ride your bike as much as you do meme some of my relatives have in their head. As regards that last, I was, however ironically, taking a route I had mapped out to avoid the most-travelled roads in my area. So, while my unfamiliarity with that particular hill might have contributed to my pancaking, at least I was in little danger of getting run over by a semi.

Since Calhoun was on an organized ride, he or somebody riding nearby should have called in whatever crew they had arranged for medical emergencies or accidents and had them check him out. Perhaps the coach vetoed that. (As if he'd ever let one of his players overrule him about an injury.)

Kevin